IG probing New Year?s Eve incident between academy superintendent, Marine guard

[thedrifter]

February 28, 2003

IG probing New Year?s Eve incident between academy superintendent, Marine guard

Associated Press


ANNAPOLIS, Md. ? The Navy?s inspector general is investigating a confrontation between the Naval Academy superintendent and a guard who asked to see his identification at a school gate, a Navy spokeswoman said.
Investigators are looking into whether there was physical contact between Vice Adm. Richard Naughton, a three-star admiral, and a young Marine guard, who asked to see Naughton?s ID on New Year?s Eve.

The guard was reassigned to a base in Washington after the encounter, a move ?considered to be in the best interest of both parties,? Lt. Cmdr. Pauline Storum, the Navy spokeswoman, said.

Storum, who disclosed the investigation after inquiries from The (Baltimore) Sun, said she is prohibited from revealing who filed the complaint that touched off the investigation.

She said witnesses have offered differing accounts of what unfolded at the academy?s Gate 3 in the early evening of Dec. 31, a night when thousands of revelers filled the streets of Annapolis and the academy campus.

Investigators ?are going to conduct a thorough investigation to determine what action, if any, can come from this,? Storum said.

The Office of the Naval Inspector General is the Navy?s independent watchdog agency, charged with investigating complaints of inappropriate conduct by Navy and Marine Corps officials. It also can recommend possible sanctions to the Navy secretary.

Naughton, a 56-year-old veteran aviator and 1968 Annapolis graduate, declined through a spokesman to comment on Thursday.

Storum said that no weapons were drawn or fired during the encounter, but declined to say whether that included pepper spray.

She said that Marine commanders reassigned the guard to Washington ?for a variety of reasons.?

?It?s important to note that reassignment is not a punishment,? she said.

Marines have guarded the academy since 1851, six years after the school?s founding.

The enlisted Marines, many in their late teens or early 20s, stand stiffly in camouflage fatigues at guard stations, keeping watch over the main gates and the tomb of John Paul Jones.

On the evening of Dec. 31, the streets near the academy teemed with more than 10,000 people in town for the city?s annual New Year?s Eve celebration.

In advertising the ?First Night? celebration, organizers reminded revelers to expect to show ID and have their belongings searched before entering the academy.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.

Sempers,

Roger